The first series of ITV1’s Trigger Point was a taut and tense thrill ride that put its characters in nail-biting, life-and-death situations in every episode. But that was nothing compared with the agonising wait for the next series. Two whole years! How could they do this to us?!

The good news is that the wait is over, because the second series of Trigger Point starts this Sunday 28 January at 9pm on ITV1 HD (CH 103). You can breathe again. And if you want to put yourself through the whole nail-munching series in one go, it’ll all be in Apps & Games > ITVX.

The drama, which stars Vicky McClure as bomb disposal expert Lana Washington, was a huge hit in 2022 and gave new meaning to the term “edge of your seat”. We were on the edge of the edge of the edge every time Lana and her team had to make split-second decisions with lives at risk. Here’s a look at the new series.

McClure, as we knew from her previous performances in the likes of This Is England, I Am Nicola and the huge hit Line Of Duty, is a compelling and charismatic lead. She’s one of our – and the nation’s – favourite TV stars right now, and it’s thrilling to see her back in one of her signature roles. 

We’re celebrating McClure’s brilliant career – but first let’s catch up with the events of series 1. Of course, that means spoilers if you haven’t seen it and want to catch up in Apps & Games > ITVX before series 2 starts…

What’s the story?

Lana Washington is a former military bomb disposal expert (known as an “Expo“) working in counter-terrorism for the Metropolitan Police. As the first series begins, she and her team are called to a potential bomb factory on an estate. After a false alarm and a defusing, a van detonates in a fatal explosion.

And that’s just the start of the team’s problems, as they’re drawn into what seems to be a campaign by a far-right group to inflict terror on minority communities. In almost unbearably suspenseful scenes, Lana and her colleagues must tackle bombs at a mosque and an LGBTQ+ pub, the latter – just in case it wasn’t nerve-racking enough! – while under fire from a sniper.

When Lana’s troubled brother Billy (Ewan Mitchell, World On Fire) is drawn into the crisis, the consequences are tragic. A distraught Lana follows a trail of evidence that eventually leads her to a high-profile politician, a secret Ministry of Defence site and, shockingly, Lana’s friend Karl (Warren Brown, Luther). To say the finale is explosive would be (a) obvious and (b) a massive understatement.

Who else is in it?

Trigger Point put us on notice from episode 1 by casting Adrian Lester (Hustle, Girlfriends, The Day After Tomorrow), apparently as McClure’s co-star – and then killing him off in the van bomb. The message was clear: no-one was safe. Characters who did make it safely to the end of the series included DI Thom Youngblood (Mark Stanley, The Reckoning), DS Samira Desai (Manjinder Virk, Midsomer Murders) and Inspector Lee Robins (Cal MacAninch, Vigil), but we don’t recommend getting too attached to any of them.

The same goes for the additions to the cast for series 2. Natalie Simpson (Outlander) is on board as DS Helen Morgan, a new member of the team (and love interest for DI Youngblood, to Lana’s discomfort) – and there’s also a new commander, played by Downton Abbey’s Julian Ovenden. Tomiwa Edun, previously seen in Merlin, The Capture and Young Wallander, also joins the show as Alex, who may know more about the case than he’s letting on.

What else can I expect from series 2?

After the devastating events of series 1, Lana has been working with the military again, helping train Ukrainian bomb disposal teams resisting the Russian invasion. As the new episodes begin, she is home but isn’t yet back on active duty: she’s giving a talk about security for financial institutions when – you guessed it – a bomb goes off.

Lana and the team investigate, and a clue leads them to the bomber, but it soon becomes obvious that he wasn’t working alone. They’re facing another ruthless terror campaign. After the trauma she’s been through, is Lana ready and willing to take on a new and potentially more dangerous challenge?

One thing we know about Vicky McClure is she’s always ready to take on a new challenge – whether that’s signing up for the biggest drama hit of the decade in Line Of Duty or helping kick-start one of the UK’s highest-profile dementia charities using the power of music.

When is Trigger Point series 2 on ITV1?

You can watch the new series of Trigger Point on Sunday 28 January at 9pm on ITV1 HD (CH 103). That’s also when all episodes will be available in Apps & Games > ITVX, along with the entire first series.